Never Before Seen On The Blog

On January 19, 2004, my sister drove from Phoenix to Las Vegas and spent 2 days putting together my nursery.  I had been on bedrest for 5 months and was unable to do anything.  Little did I know that I would have them 2 days later.  I was 34 weeks, 6 days pregnant in this picture.  I had never seen these pictures until yesterday.

I started hemorrhaging at 11 weeks and my perinatologist ordered me to bed immediately.  I bled heavily for 7 weeks due to partial placenta previa.  Baby A's placenta was on my cervix.

But there is so much more to this story.  Before I got pregnant, Greg and I had planned a giant RV adventure for the summer.  We were meeting his friend Scott and his family and we were going to tour around Lake Superior.  When I found out at 7 weeks that it was triplets, I told Greg there was no way I was going to drive around in Canada.  I had appointments every 2 weeks!  Plus, I was high risk.  I needed to stay home!

Based on how great of a father Greg is now, it might come as a surprise to many that Greg was not even remotely ready to give up his carefree lifestyle to have kids.  Kids weren't going to change Greg.  Greg cannot be tied down.

So Greg left me at home alone and went to Canada.  I then drove to my sister's house in Phoenix because I figured it would be my last opportunity to get my hair done. While I was at my sister's house, I suddenly felt a giant gush of liquid and realized that I was bleeding heavily.  I was cramping and crying hysterically.  I was certain I was having a miscarriage.

I called my peri and he immediately started screaming at me on the phone.

"WHY ARE YOU IN PHOENIX?  GET DOWN.  GET ON YOUR LEFT SIDE!  DRINK WATER.  WHY ARE YOU IN PHOENIX?!"

It's a damn good thing I wasn't in Canada, right?

My sister drove me home, while I lay in the back seat on my left side.  I then laid on my left side for the next seven weeks.  I bled heavily the entire time.  Every single day for seven weeks, I thought I was losing my babies.

And where was Greg?  Oh, he was still in Canada for 2 weeks. When I called him and told him I was bleeding and I thought I was miscarrying, he was so pissed.

"Goddamn it.  Goddamn it.  I knew it was too good to be true.  Okay, well there is nothing I can do for you.  Even if I start driving home now, I can't get there to do anything."

So he didn't.  He came home two weeks later.  I was not pleased, believe me.

Sarah's placenta eventually moved up and off my cervix and I stopped bleeding at 18 weeks.  But by then, my blood pressure was sky high and I had borderline preeclampsia.  My blood pressure averaged 180/120 and I was prescribed blood pressure medication.  My peri was very up front about my situation.  He told me having blood pressure that high at 18 weeks was not a good sign for a good outcome.

That very week, our level 2 ultrasound showed evidence that Gregory might have Down's Syndrome.  To say that my entire pregnancy was traumatic is the understatement of the century.   I pretty much went the entire pregnancy thinking my babies were not going to make it.  I wouldn't even have my shower until 26 weeks because I waited until we'd hit viability.

Since I was to continue on bedrest, Greg found a hospital bed (from a dead woman) on Craigslist.  He also found a wheelchair and we set up a whole hospital room in the living room.  I couldn't sleep at all laying down, so I slept sitting up in the hospital bed.  Every time Gregory, Baby B, would move or flip over, he'd kick my stomach and I'd spontaneously vomit into a bucket Greg had set up by the bed.  When I kept missing the bucket, Greg started lining the carpet with newspaper.

I had severe acid reflux.  It was so bad, it would come up so fast, it would go right out of my nostrils and I'd choke, which would cause contractions.

Greg cooked for me, served me, and cleaned up after me for the remainder of the pregnancy.  I was scheduled to have them at 36 weeks, but 2 days after these pictures, I gained 13 pounds in one day and had protein in my urine, so at 35 weeks, one day, I delivered my trio.

Nine years later, my sister is here again for the kids' birthday party today.  Aren't I lucky to have such a great sister?

And the ninety pounds I gained during the pregnancy?

Poof!  I went from 213 pounds to 118 pounds in eight months.  We call that the Taking Care Of Triplets diet.  You should all try it.

HA!